


Artificial

by orphan_account



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Slavery, Clones, Gen, Non-Sexual Slavery, Sexual Slavery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-07-16
Updated: 2013-07-16
Packaged: 2017-12-20 08:42:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/885269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Serfpod was supposed to make life easier for everyone by cloning small things that were needed, but when the plans fall into the wrong hands, greed takes over and the result is terrible. Roosterteeth Industries has only one sole purpose, creating and distributing clones to the masses. Unfortunately there is only one kind of clone as the device can only use one source for it’s lifetime. It only takes one corrupted copy to send things crashing down and they will crash harder than anything has ever crashed before, especially when the original is withering away to nothing. What do you do when you find out that you’re just a duplicate of someone else?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Animated

**Author's Note:**

> It's a lot more elaborate and dark than I intended. Sorry....

It is strange, suddenly existing. One minute the entirety of the universe, its ebb and flow and pulse and knowledge is simply minding its own business and the next minute a minuscule piece pulls apart from everything, condensed and heated and flying through time and space and attaining limits and physicality. It all happens so fast that by the time knowledge can realize, it will already be done. The majority of knowledge will be dead, oneness and wholeness with the universe with it resulting in just a pulse; a single pulse that will suddenly gain consciousness. It is this consciousness that is different from so many of its kind, but like so many before it, it must be born and bred in the dark and raised in hellfire.

_Where am I?_ The normal first thought of a newly created entity,  _Who am I? Why is it so dark? Please… somebody…_

Sounds and feelings and thoughts; they’re all new experiences and they’re experienced out of order. From the beginning, this new entity will recognize that it is abnormal, that it was not created like it should have been before it was violently ripped from the oneness of the parent universe. Like a newborn infant, it will reach out to others for help, dependent upon anyone to guide it, to give more information, to designate purpose and reality, but right now there is only the darkness. There is no one around as this entity is becoming aware and the most prominent feeling that is felt at this moment… is fear.

_Please…_

The entity is suddenly blinded and it feels pain, electricity arcing in waves across the blackness until it is writhing as the darkness swallows it whole.

It is here that the entity will become; it will join its vessel completely and the pain will worsen until it can feel the physical self. Limbs and fingers and body will be the next thing it recognizes from the little knowledge that has survived this transition but the satisfaction of recognition will fade as a lancing pain originating from the chest causes a violent convulsion. The eyes will open, the lungs will gasp for their first breath and then release it in a scream as it feels its bones growing unnaturally fast, filling out into a male body that has been premade by artificial means. Thrashing, as it will find out, will not help with the pain but it will help with location. The entity, now categorized as a human male, will recognize liquid water surrounding him and irritating severely sensitive nerve endings in the skin. The only thing keeping him alive is the mask around his face administering oxygen to newborn lungs.

This is the story of this entity’s journey and this is where it begins.

His eyes were shut tightly as he thrashed, his newly developed mind unable to comprehend the amount of pain that came with simply existing. The oxygen he was inhaling was pure and yet it wasn’t enough. He was burning and freezing and dying before he could even live and suffocating before he could do anything about it.

_Somebody… Please… Anybody…_

Another scream managed to escape, despite the lack of oxygen, as an electric shock sliced through him. Numb hands reached out blindly to feel anything and bumped against a smooth surface. His eyes opened then. The pain was starting to go away with that seemingly final shock and he took the opportunity to look around. First he noticed the container he was in. It was made of glass and was an oblong shape, like a sort of pod. Only one person could fit in here, he was certain of that. The sight of his hands had him looking over his body then, everything felt right and normal… except for the strange fleshy tube that was connected to his stomach and the floor of the pod. That didn’t feel natural at all, but it throbbed in time with his pulse and he could see that it was administering something to him that he guessed was vital. He reached down slowly to touch it, then wrapped his fingers around it and gave it a light tug, whimpering and jerking his hand back when the action sent lances of pain through him.  _That can stay there_ , he thought.

Just beyond the clear walls was another pod with someone else inside it. Wires were connecting the two pods together and it was curious to him as to why. The person inside was thin, pale, and limp, and had very long sandy colored hair. Their greenish-gray eyes stared ahead blankly at nothing, not even noticing or even caring to notice the pod next to them. They looked utterly defeated, like they were praying for a death that wouldn’t come.

He stared a moment longer until a movement to his left, caught his attention. Someone in a white coat was pressing buttons on a screen that was connected to his pod. He shifted a bit to get a better look and tapped on the glass lightly, hoping to get their attention. The person looked up with an impassive stare and pressed a final button.

Suddenly, his mask of oxygen filled with water and he choked on it, clawing at the device and ripping it from his face.

_No please… I just got used to breathing… don’t take it away…_

A sound from below him shook the pod lightly and the glass wall suddenly split down the middle and opened outwards, dumping him and the water onto a cold metal grate. He gasped for air and choked when it finally came, his muscles spasming with the change in pressure, the change in temperature causing him to gag reflexively. Falling onto his side, he shivered and curled into himself. This was a basic instinct, he realized, to warm himself up. This world was cold and hard and full of pain. As far as first impressions go, he couldn’t say it was the best.

A hand roughly grabbed his shoulder and held him in place as another hand wrapped around the tube sticking out from his stomach and yanked hard. He screamed, the pain almost as intense as his greeting into this world, and tears streamed from his eyes. At least this pain receded to a dull throb and allowed him to look down as he tried to re-catch the breath he had just shoved out of his lungs. Red liquid was joining the clear water, sliding from a hole in his belly that was slowly closing.

Still trembling, innocent eyes looked up to see the person in the white coat, a man with a dark complexion and thick hair and glasses, “I’m sorry,” He said as another person in a white coat, a woman this time, walked in and stood next to him, “but welcome to the world.”


	2. Corrupted

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Previously: Still trembling, innocent eyes looked up to see the person in the white coat, a man with a dark complexion and thick hair and glasses, “I’m sorry,” He said as another person in a white coat, a woman this time, walked in and stood next to him, “but welcome to the world.”

The clone’s head was spinning as he stared at them and he was still so cold, freezing actually. The icy metal grate he was laying on was ensuring that. But worse than the cold was the fear of the unknown… and these people were unknown to him. Were they here to help? Could they give him the information that had been forcibly omitted from his mind? “W-where am I?” His voice sounded hoarse to his ears and a hand flew to his throat after hearing the sound for the first time,  _Is that what I sound like?_

“This is a secure facility that brings people like you into the world. We are the reason you exist. That’s all you need to know.” The man grabbed a clipboard and pushed his glasses back up his nose before gesturing to the woman, “Lindsay, can you start his check-up while I start the next clone?”

“Yes, sir.”

The name caused a spark to go off in his brain. It was so jolting that he quaked and gasped with it as she walked closer to him, a small but sad smile on her face. This spark was a memory; something triggered by the catalyst he could only assume was her name… and he saw a building and it felt like home. He saw smiling faces and heard laughter and could name each one of the faces in turn. Her face was there laughing but it was fuzzy. There was a pool and another face surrounded by red hair that was clear as day. They all seemed to be having a grand time and he could feel the content in his chest. It was a happy feeling. Was this from a past life? Was this a happy memory? Was he supposed to remember this? Why did his head hurt so badly?

“Lindsay?” He repeated the name he had heard and tried to pull himself up a bit, failing with a whimper and falling back onto his side. The repetition was more for confirmation and he could feel the recognition of putting a name to a face play out in his expression. She was familiar, but yet, so was the other; the man, “Gus?”

The two froze for a moment before casting each other a glance. Suddenly, Lindsay was by his side, helping him up. “Easy now…” She said softly, helping him over to a medical table, “Don’t want you to cramp up.”

He stumbled a few times but made it to the table and she helped him to lie down. It was at this point that he realized he was completely nude and he felt his face flare up, his hands moving to cover himself and protect what little dignity he was born with.

“Your face is all red. Why is that? Nothing to be embarrassed about.” Lindsay pulled out her own clipboard and started going off the list for check-up.

“I’m…” He cleared his throat, “I’m naked…”

She pursed her lips, “Yeah… you are… Why does that bother you?”

Why  _did_  that bother him? “It’s not… it’s not very decent. Can I cover up with something?” He wasn’t sure why, but the sight of other people seeing his body like this was… well it didn’t sit well with him. He didn’t like it at all.

“Will you do what I ask if I get you a blanket?”

He nodded and sat up as she walked over to a far cabinet and pulled out a blanket that didn’t look like it had been used in years. It was pixelated with different colors of green and there were some black pixels in the shape of a face. _Creeper_ , his mind informed him. All of these memories leaking through were starting to frighten him a bit, helpful as they were. She returned and draped the blanket over his shoulders and encouraged him to lie back down.

“Thank you.”

A nod was the only response she gave as she continued with the check-up. Making sure vitals were normal and that his physical body wasn’t marred or misshapen.

Soon the man that his brain told him was named ‘Gus’ came and joined them pulling up a chair, “Alright. You’ve been demonstrating some prior knowledge. How much can you remember?”

The clone swallowed and sat up again, hugging the blanket tighter around himself, “I’m not sure what you…?”

“You knew our names. What else do you know without anyone telling you? It doesn’t have to make sense. Just give me names and words if you have to.”

“Names…? Um…” He closed his eyes for a moment and thought before opening them and speaking, “Lindsay… and Gus… and Austin… Rooster…teeth… I…” His mind was suddenly starting to heat up and it was becoming painful. He grabbed his head in his hands and released a panted breath. Something was wrong. These thoughts were forcing their way out from between his lips and he couldn’t stop them. He couldn’t breathe, “Ph-Phantom… red… blue… J-Jones… Michael, R-Ray… X-Box… Halo… G-Geoff, Jack, Ryan…  Joel, Burnie, Jordan, Barbara, Griffon, Kara, Brandon, Dan, George, Nathan, Miles, Kerry, Lindsay, MichaelMichaelMichaelMichael-…” He gasped and nearly fell off of the table if Lindsay hadn’t caught him and steadied him.

“Take it easy. Deep breaths.” The two in white coats exchanged a wary glance as the clone fought off the rogue thoughts.

He brought a hand to his forehead and whimpered, “My head… my head is burning…”

Lindsay’s hand rubbed his back reassuringly as Gus reached for some cards in his coat, “Listen to me.” He said, “I need you to focus. I’m going to show you some pictures and I need you to tell me what pops into your mind when you see them.” He shuffled the cards as the clone gained his composure then held up the first one of a gray building.

The clone peeked at the card and blurted the answer almost as if something else in his brain had taken hold of his voice and made him shout it out against his will, “Roosterteeth Productions.” He cried out and his fingers tangled in his hair, eyes watering with the pressure in his head.

“Keep going.” Gus encouraged, holding up a new card that sported a familiar green logo, “Next one. Come on.”

“No… I can’t…” He had no choice but to look when Gus forcibly turned his head, ignoring Lindsay’s light protest, “Achievement Hunter-  _ah_!…” He jerked away, “Please, make it stop. I can’t-… I don’t… It  _hurts_ …”

“One more.” Gus persisted, shoving the picture in his face despite the clone closing his eyes.

“No more! Please!”

“This is the last one, I promise. Just look.”

The newborn took a moment to situate himself and let the pain recede a bit before warily turning to look at the card. His eyes widened immediately and he tried to keep the words from escaping, even though it did nothing to stop the increasing pressure in his brain, “It’s a Phantom Flex High Speed Camera. Oh god…” He began to pant, trying to alleviate the pain with more oxygen and failing as a sudden surge of remembered words and names came pouring from his lips accompanied by vivid pictures in his head, “Mum, dad, George, Dan, Oxford, I-I-I-I-…” He released an anguish filled cry and curled within the blanket around him, “No more! Please, no more…”

But the two were no longer trying to get him to remember, too busy engrossed in their own conversation and as the throbbing in his head died down, he could barely make out some words.

“… can’t let the boss know…”

“Use the chip…”

“They’ll find out… He’s the one…”

“… data adds up… not coincidental… corrupted copy…”

“… send Monty a wire…”

“… Joel take care of the medical stuff…”

By the time they had finished with their conversation, he was finished with the pain, simply lying beneath the blanket and staring at them with tired eyes.

Lindsay was the first to return to his side, “He’s going to fall asleep if we don’t get him moving…”

“We can’t hide him. Not with another clone ready to be born in 45 minutes.” Gus sighed and scratched at his face for a minute, “He’s just going to have to blend in with the rest of them. Place the chip on him so we can find him later and send him to Joel. I’ll stay here and take care of the next one.”

She nodded and gently shook the newborn’s shoulder, “I’m going to need to see your left hand.”

He had to remember which one was left before he gingerly raised it for her.

Pulling out a small device, she turned his hand palm-up and surveyed the little metallic chip. It was square and flat on one side, but the side that was facing up from her fingertip had three small, sharp blades attached to it. “You’re going to feel a pinch.” She warned and stuck the blade end into his palm.

He tensed, but the pain wasn’t nearly as bad as anything else he had encountered today. When the blades were all the way in they snapped open, stretching his skin wide as the base fell into the opening and then snapping shut on the opposite side of the square piece. His palm started to heat up at the area. It was bleeding slightly but the blades were at work cauterizing the wound and soon there was no evidence of anything having been entered. Not even pain.

He looked up at her then, eyes wide and wary, “Lindsay… What am I here for?”

She smiled apologetically and ruffled his hair a bit, “With any luck… you’re here to put an end to this…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	3. Examination

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Previously: He looked up at her then, eyes wide and wary, “Lindsay… What am I here for?”
> 
> She smiled apologetically and ruffled his hair a bit, “With any luck… you’re here to put an end to this…”

Convincing the newborn to follow her out of the room that he had determined was safe was a challenge. He was terrified to say the least and tried to argue about it but he had more or less decided to trust her and her judgment and slowly followed her from the room, pausing only to inquire about the other pod and its inhabitant. She gave him a slightly heartbroken, apologetic look before replying, “He’s very sick. I don’t think he’s ever going to be like he once was. But you are a part of him. You came from him.”

“Like family?” He asked and she nodded and smiled softly at him.

“Like family…”

“Who is he?”

She sighed a bit and led him from the room muttering softly, “An old friend…”

The rest of the trek to the med center was filled with her just trying to get him from place to place without stopping to look at something he found curious. Closed doors were a big nemesis during the journey. Finally, though, they made it to the center and she peeked inside to see if the man she was looking for was there.

Sure enough, a man with short, black, spikey hair and sharp features also wearing a white coat was just pushing someone out the door on the opposite side of the room. Without any more hesitation, she shoved the newborn inside and closed the door behind them. “Joel. This is it. It's time.”

He spun around to meet her, pulling off and disposing of the rubber gloves that were on his hands from the previous ‘patient’. “What are you talking about?” He asked, eyes narrowing in confusion, “Time for what?”

“Time to put our plan into action.”

He seemed to rack his brain for a moment before blinking in recognition, “This is him? The corrupted copy?” At her nod he moved closer, “Well… great! But what am I supposed to do with him?”

“Give him his examination. Gloss over the chip in his hand. Forego the vasectomy. He doesn’t really need that. It’s cruel to begin with.”

“That’s not… really possible, Lindsay.” He sighed and ran his hands through his hair as she handed their special clone a medical gown and moved him to the medical bed after he had put it on and helped him up onto it, “You know where he has to go next. And I can’t keep him in here longer than any of the others.”

“So what are you saying? You’re not gonna do it?”

“No, I’ll do everything you need… except forego the vasectomy. He has to have that.”

Her face scrunched up as she sat on the edge of the bed, “I don’t see how.”

He sighed and moved closer, “We don’t know how long it’s going to take for us to find him again. What if he’s sorted to be a bondthrall? You know they check to make sure everything is in order before sale.”

“I’m going to talk to Brandon as soon as he’s done here. We’ll have him put with Shannon. It’ll be that simple.”

“Mhm…” He folded his arms and looked at her like a parent listening to its child’s explanation of something silly, “And what if he’s bought? You know what can go down. You’ve seen it. Something might happen. He might be sent to a Bondman and then we’re really fucked because we won’t see it coming.”

“I think if we all have a positive outlook on this then everything will work out fine. We just all need a positive outlook.”

“No. We need to think about all the possibilities and prepare for all of the ways that what we’re doing can come back and bite us in the ass.”

“I don’t think it’s going to be that much of a problem.”

“Lindsay, I can’t give him preferential treatment.” He placed a hand over his eyes in frustration as his other arm crossed over his chest, “That will be the most suspicious… and this is really… the worst day, the worst possible time it could have happened…”

“Come on, Joel. You can do it. We all trust you to take care of him. You can skip this part of it. He really doesn’t need the vasectomy.”

“Um…” The clone suddenly interjected after staying quite during their debate, “I’m sorry, but what is a vasectomy exactly?” He pulled at the medical gown’s hem nervously, “Is it going to hurt?”

She turned to him and patted his hands in reassurance, “It’s nothing you need to worry about. Joel is going to take good care of you. I pro-…”

“Lindsay… Could you just…?” The sharp featured man jerked his head to the corner of the room and released an uneasy breath as she stood to join him there.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Lindsay asked in a hushed tone.

Another exasperated, if dejected, sigh escaped him, “Burnie cut the funding for anesthesia without telling us… We didn’t have enough time to plan out a method of utilizing what we had and we used the last of it on the last clone. The next shipment isn’t supposed to get in for the next 20 minutes.”

“Oh… Oh god…”

“Yeah…”

“Well… well what…?”

His arms folded over his chest again and one hand covered his mouth so he had to speak through it, “I’m being watched constantly and timed. I can’t do anything less than what I’ve done with the others. He’s going to have to have it done. There’s nothing I can do without getting us caught.”

The look on her face was one of pure horror until she checked it, realizing that their special clone was still watching with confusion. After a moment of uncomfortable silence, she turned and walked hastily out of the room, muttering an apologetic “excuse me” on the way out.

“Lindsay?” The clone shifted uneasily, wary of being left in an unfamiliar room with someone he wasn’t sure he could trust, “Where did she go?”

“She left for a bit.” The older man walked towards his patient and pulled the stethoscope from around his neck, “She might be back later. She might not be. Regardless, I’m just here to give you a full examination… among other things…”

The newborn pulled his legs up towards his chest slowly in a sign of mistrust, “What’s an examination? Will it hurt?”

Joel gave a tired smile, “No. The examination won’t hurt.”

“What’s that then?” the clone gestured to the stethoscope warily.

“It helps me hear your heartbeat. Here.” He handed held out the tool for the clone to take, “See for yourself. It won’t bite.”

“Heartbeat?” Curious fingers reached for the tool and held it lightly before turning it this way and that, “How does it work?”

“Well…” the examiner moved closer and plucked the tool from his fingers, “You put these parts in your ears like this…” He put the ear buds into the newborn’s ears, “and then you place this part on your chest over your heart like this…” he placed the circular piece at the spot he indicated, “and you can hear your heartbeat.”

The clone’s eyebrows scrunched together as he focused on the new sound in his ears, “What does it mean?” He didn’t like the way everything sounded muffled through the ear buds.

“Let me hear.” Joel took the ear buds from his patient’s ears and placed them in his own, listening to the sound as any doctor would, “It means you’re perfectly healthy.”

“And that’s good?”

The examiner nodded, “Yep. See? Nothing bad. I’ll let you know if something might hurt so you can be ready for it.”

The newborn frowned, “But I don’t want anything to hurt.”

A sigh came from the older man as he placed the stethoscope back around his neck, “Everyone has to go through it, buddy. Pain is a part of life. You’re going to have to deal with it sooner or later.”

“That’s… depressing…”

“So is this profession. I used to be an actor, you know.”

“A what?”

“Nevermind. Lay back.” As the clone did what was asked of him, he finished the examination and scribbled some notes on his clipboard, “All that’s left are the shots and the operation now.”

The newborn sat up, “What’s an operation?”

“You’ll find out soon enough.” Joel had picked up a syringe and was flicking the needle, pushing the plunger a bit to ensure there were no bubbles, “Now… you need three of these. They might sting a bit. Just in your arm though, so don’t panic.” He moved closer and stuck the needle into the clone’s right arm, pushing down the plunger.

The clone yelped and jerked but not before the examiner had removed the syringe from his skin, “There. See? That wasn’t so bad.”

A soft whine escaped as he rubbed at the sore spot, “I have to have three of those?”

“Two now. And you haven’t felt anything yet, kid.” Joel muttered towards the end of the sentence as he readied the next syringe and stuck it in, pleased to see that his patient had already seemed to get used to it. One more syringe and a couple Band-Aids later and the doctor pushed back with a sigh and ran a hand over his face, “Okay, buddy… this is the hard part…”

The clone swallowed a bit uneasily, “What do you mean?”

“Well… This is where I’m going to have to break what little trust you had in me… Remember Lindsay said something about a vasectomy?… But the good news is that this isn’t even the worst part…”

Innocent eyes blinked up at him, “I don’t… I don’t understand…”

“You will…” he pressed a button on the side of the medical bed and shackles suddenly rose up from opened slats in the design and clamped around his patient’s wrists, thighs and ankles, effectively immobilizing him.

The newborn could feel his heart start to race. Something bad was going to happen. He could feel it. That instinct was telling him to run for his life but considering the circumstances, it was a little too late to do so, “What… I don’t…” He struggled with the bonds to no avail, “Please… I don’t…”

Joel picked up a scalpel and tapped it against the side of the bed a few times before sighing and lifting up his patient’s medical gown to his rapidly rising and falling chest ignoring the way he flushed with embarrassment, “I’m sorry… but this is going to hurt a lot.” He shoved a tongue depressor sideways between the clone’s teeth, “Bite down on this. It’ll help… sort of…”

For the next twenty-five minutes, the only sounds that could be heard from the medical center were that of blood curdling screams, agonized cries, and pain-filled whimpers.

And this wasn’t even the worst part.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
